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"Believing Christians should look upon themselves as such a creative minority and ... espouse once again the best of its heritage, thereby being at the service of humankind at large." --Joseph Ratzinger

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A law enforcement officer said he was asked to leave a Red Cross shelter in Lafayette, Louisiana after he prayed with several flood victims.

Clay Higgins, a reserve city marshal and a local legend, dropped by after work to minister to evacuees at the Heymann Performing Arts Center on Aug. 19.

“I was not proselytizing,” he told me. “I was just there to thank volunteers and offer prayers and encouragement.”

Higgins, who is also running for Congress, was dressed in uniform and was holding a Bible.

At some point during the visit a volunteer approached Higgins and mentioned there was a problem.

“He said the Red Cross had an issue with me being there,” Higgins said. “So I asked him what the problem was. He looked down at my Bible and he gestured and said, ‘They have a problem with that.’”

Higgins said he was escorted to a Red Cross supervisor who asked him to leave.

“I was told that the Red Cross does not allow spiritual counseling in their shelters,” he said. “The supervisor told me the Red Cross is not a religious-based organization and they don’t allow religious interaction with the residents.”

During the conversation, a flood victim asked Higgins to pray. The captain was obliged but had to do so outside the Red Cross shelter.

“Christian compassion was not welcomed there in the manner I had provided,” Higgins told me.

A Red Cross spokesperson told the Baton Rouge Advocate their policy is intended to be respectful of all faiths, “but she said if Higgins had approached managers they would have accommodated him.”

Meanwhile, a pastor in the town of Albany told me that four families left a Red Cross shelter after they were told they could not pray or read their Bibles at their cots.